diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Drawables/DifficultyIcon.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Drawables/DifficultyIcon.cs
index 81f517dd86..8014631eca 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Drawables/DifficultyIcon.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Drawables/DifficultyIcon.cs
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps.Drawables
                     Origin = Anchor.Centre,
                     RelativeSizeAxes = Axes.Both,
                     // the null coalesce here is only present to make unit tests work (ruleset dlls aren't copied correctly for testing at the moment)
-                    Icon = ruleset?.CreateInstance().CreateIcon() ?? new SpriteIcon { Icon = FontAwesome.Regular.QuestionCircle }
+                    Icon = ruleset?.CreateInstance()?.CreateIcon() ?? new SpriteIcon { Icon = FontAwesome.Regular.QuestionCircle }
                 }
             };
         }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Rulesets/RulesetInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Rulesets/RulesetInfo.cs
index d9cff86265..c982ef7be1 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Rulesets/RulesetInfo.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Rulesets/RulesetInfo.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
+using JetBrains.Annotations;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace osu.Game.Rulesets
@@ -20,7 +21,13 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets
         [JsonIgnore]
         public bool Available { get; set; }
 
-        public virtual Ruleset CreateInstance() => (Ruleset)Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetType(InstantiationInfo), this);
+        [CanBeNull]
+        public virtual Ruleset CreateInstance()
+        {
+            if (!Available) return null;
+
+            return (Ruleset)Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetType(InstantiationInfo), this);
+        }
 
         public bool Equals(RulesetInfo other) => other != null && ID == other.ID && Available == other.Available && Name == other.Name && InstantiationInfo == other.InstantiationInfo;